Wednesday, April 29, 2009

On my previous post “anonymous” left a nasty little message on my comments section. Apparently she is mad at me for leaving bitchy comments on her blog. I don’t leave bitchy comments. And I don’t comment anonymously. Why do people have to be mean on other people’s blog? Seriously. Be nice people.

EDIT: After a few minutes I realized who wrote that comment (stupid of me not to figure it out right away). If you are reading my blog, I have not left any anonymous comments on your blog. I did read what you wrote on your blog and I really don't care. Yes, I told someone else about it, but in a joking manner as is "Wow, we ticked someone off big time" way. I did nothing after that. I have no beef with you or anyone in your building. If I see you outside I'll tell you that. Please don't leave nasty comments on my blog.

* I’m beginning to find the smell of spray paint intoxicating. And not in the actual intoxicating way, but the “man, I love how that smells” way. Weird.

* Swine flu. Huh, is that really the best name they could come up with? As a facebook (and real life) friend said yesterday, it sounds like something a Loony Toons character would get. I’m wondering if it really as bad as they say on the news or if the news makes it sound worse than it actually is because it’s more interesting than the economy.

* I’m leading Indy’s Cub Scout meeting tonight because his troop leader is away at AC09 (some military thing) and they begged for volunteers. To get his Tiger Cub badge and move on to the next level of scouting (Wolf Cub, IIRC) he has to make a scrapbook. All the boys need to do this for their badge (though it’s the last thing Indy needs to do), so I told the leader that I would do it with them for a meeting. I’m so not looking forward to this. Scouting is not my thing. Indy had better appreciate all the annoying stuff I do for him.

* I wish I had a fireplace.

* I need light bulbs.

* I read somewhere that you can’t touch all your teeth with your tongue. That’s not true though is it? I’m pretty sure I can do it. Are you trying it right now too? Let me know what your results are.

* I love the show Psyche. It’s so funny. The Mentalist has a similar set up, but is so boring. And I really like Simon Whatshisname. Shawn and Gus are fun. I like my mysteries to be solved with a bit of yelling, fear, jokes and jumping up and down. Probably why I loves Scooby Doo as a kid.

* I say “I” a lot.

* Where’s my bailout payment? I want one. You know, just 1 or 2 billion. No big deal right? The gov’t is just handing it out to people who don’t know what to do with it. I’d know what to do with it!

* Gardening is hard work. I gardened all day yesterday (yes, with my allergies!) and today I feel like I ran a marathon.

* Do you have a 5 list? Remember the episode of Friends where they talked about it? You pick 5 celebs that if you ever have the chance to “be with” you have a free pass. Here are my 5:

1. Johnny Depp (duh)

2. Goran Visnjic (Luka from ER)

3. Hugh Jackman

4. Michael Shanks (but only in the persona of Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1 because IRL he’s kind of a jerk)

5. Hugh Grant

I’m only one country away from JD, so it’s looking good for my number 1! ;)

And I’ll leave RTT at that. I have more thoughts, but I’m afraid this line of thinking is going to get me in trouble. Thanks Un Mom!

EDIT: As was pointed out, Robert Pattinson did not make my list. Yes, he's super, duper hot, but he's kind of young for me to be in the 5, KWIM? He is one of my 2 alternates (which I did not post). My other alternate is Liam Neeson. Edward Cullen did not make the list because he's not real (WHAT? He's not? No, sadly, he's not). If he were real though, he just might edge Johnny out of the top spot.

Monday, April 27, 2009

It’s been a few weeks since I posted a metamorphosis. Susan hosts it every Monday and I love to see what others are up to. I’ve been planning this one for a long time, but haven’t because I didn’t feel it was finished/good enough/blah, blah, blah. I had a Nester inspired epiphany though and took her motto, It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful to heart and decided it will never really be done because I’m always changing something, and so what if it’s not perfect. I like it and feel comfortable, so that should be good enough. Right?

You may remember this photo. I showed it to way pack in Nov when we first moved in. It was a big, boring, messy room.

Oh, it hurts me just to look at it! The walls! The light fixture (which I showed you in a previous morph)! The…well, everything! Ack!

Have a look at it today:

Isn’t that better? We painted the walls a cappuccino brown, changed the light fixture, added rugs and art, oh, and furniture! I was so happy to have my furniture! Let’s take a look around, shall we?

This book case is just to left in the previous photo. It’s technically part of the dining area, but I like the book shelf there. If you look closely, on the top shelf, second cubby from the left, you can see the sign I won on Nester’s Small Words give-away. I love it! Notice Indy’s little violin case over in the corner? :) It’s so cute! The artwork on the top of the bookcase was done by Indy when he was 3. It’s a triceratops. He is so proud that we framed it and display it. He shows it to everyone. The door to the right, leads back to the bathroom, Indy’s room and the school room.

Here’s out entertainment center. We had to replace the two side pieces that the movers put the forklift through. You can tell what I was watching while I took the photos.

Here are some close ups of a few of the shelves. In order, we have stuff that was brought back (legally) from Iraq, a Paris photo I took with books and mini Eiffel towers, my cloche and another photo I took in Paris with various other chachkies.

This is the Living Room half of the room. I adore my sofa. It’s so comfy. We’re planning on getting an overstuffed leather chair to replace the small chair, but that will come later. I’m also going to recover the pillows, but another time. The cabinet in the back used to be in Indy’s nursery, but we’ve repurposed it to hold DVD’s.

This is the dining room half. Don’t look at my windows. They are filthy! Stupid pollen. The table is also a previous morph. The bench is one of my favorite pieces. When we have people over, we can pull it up to the table for lots of seating.

I would have turned on the overhead light, but just before I took the photos a bulb blew and I don’t have any replacements. D’oh!

So, that concludes this weeks meta. I hope you enjoyed having a look at where I spend much of my time.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Yesterday was quite a day! Crazy, in fact. The installation we live on has a closed housing section. At some point these apartments are going to be turned over to the German gov’t, but for now they stand empty. They are however guarded. That’s right, for 3 years, we’ve been paying private security guards to stand at the gate to these buildings that we’re going to give away. Why don’t we just give them away already? What a waste of money.

Anyway…since the gov’t still owns these buildings, the NCOIC of DPW (Department of Public Works) told us (meaning my building coordinator) that we could go take whatever gardening stuff we wanted to help make our building look better. Sweet huh? Recycling at its best! A (the BC’s wife) and I went over to scope it out on Thurs and found literally hundreds and hundreds of tulip and iris bulbs being choked to death by the weeds and overgrowth. Do you know how expensive bulbs are? It was sad really, but at least we were going to put them to good use. There was also a HUGE pile of stuff that had been pulled from the buildings. We wandered around it (and occasionally on top of it) and found a ton of stuff we knew we could use, like planter boxes, resin frames that could be used for a raised garden and tons of other items. It was all just sitting out there!

We told the guards that we would be back on Friday (with shovels and cleaned out SUV’s) to pick up what we wanted. They were fine, and said, in the typical German way “Ja, Ja, das ist not a problem.”

Friday morning dawned cool and clear. A, T (another neighbor), Indy and I loaded up and drove over ready to get our stuff. The guards (different guards) let us in (we told them what we were there for) and off we went shovels in hand.

About 20 minutes later, one of the guards, Georg, came up and told us we couldn’t take anything. WHAT? A polite argument ensued, which resulted in us calling SSG P (who is the NCOIC of DPW). He said we could take whatever we wanted. Not good enough for Georg the Guard. This is NOT Georg, but it gives you an idea.

He wanted SSG P to come down personally and have a chat. And as we had already loaded a bunch of stuff in our SUV’s (that we were not willing to unload) Georg wouldn’t let us leave! We waited, and waited, and waited. SSG P is a very busy man. While we waited (2.5 hours) we went ahead and dug up more stuff. Why not? What’s the worst that could happen? If it turned out that we couldn’t take them, we’d just dump them on the ground. We totally wouldn’t, but that’s what we told Georg. He was actually a pretty nice guy, but Germans are very strict on rules. Whatevs. We chatted with him for a long time about “stealing.” He said we weren’t at that point stealing. We were “attempting” to steal. We argued that we were recycling. He said he had nothing against it, but feared for his job if he let us just walk out with stuff. Really? I think the gov’t has more pressing issues, than some tulip bulbs, but you know.

SSP finally showed up, apologizing profusely for taking so long and spoke to Georg for about 5 minutes, and came over and told us to load up whatever. We showed him what we already had and he just laughed. He had come in a flatbed truck and asked if there was anything else we wanted. I wanted these resin frames to build a container garden with, but they were too big to go in our cars, so he loaded them onto his truck, and then we all finally left the compound. I was sunburned, tired and my allergies were going crazy from being among the billions of dandelions that threatening to take over the area, but triumphant that we were getting all kinds of great and free flowers. Of course they won’t look pretty this year, but next year our building is going to be alight with colorful tulips and irises. Hurrah!

We just might invite Georg over to have a peek!

I'm such a trouble maker! A's husband says he doesn't even want to know what we're up to when we're together. He said he'd come bail us out if he had to, but he doesn't want to know.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Kat tagged me on Catherine's how mom's see the world around the world online dialogue. Take a peek at how mom's around the world think and feel about motherhood.

Things I love about being Indy's mom.

*I like saying he's my son. Isn't that silly? It's true though. I take great pride in the fact that that little man who is so amazing is MY son. He's smart and sweet and really, really funny. It's like talking to a grown up in a kid's body. If you don't believe me, just ask him, he'll tell you. He'll also tell you he's handsome and smart. Very humble, my boy. I am honored to be his mother.

*I love watching him figure out things. As a homeschool mom I am privileged to get to actually see when things click with him. I swear there are times when I can see the little synapses firing off in his brain. It is truly an amazing thing to watch.

*Seeing things through his eyes. Boys are very different and seeing things the way he sees them. Looking at bugs and worms has never been so fascinating. Spending an entire day talking like a pirate is a hoot. Especially in public. Yar!

*Knowing that I am his world is such an overwhelming feeling. Of course M is important as are our extended family, but it's me that he wants. Sick, sad, hurt, tired, whatever, he wants me. No one else will do. I know there will come a day when this ends, but for now Mommy is the center of his world. Anyone and everything else are just distant moons circling.

*Learning. I never thought a child could teach me so much. He's taught me patience, kindness, forgiveness, tolerance, joy, excitement, and how to just be. He's also taught me where my personal line is, but that's not something he likes to test.

*I love that he loves everyone. He accepts everyone, no matter their race, religion or ethnicity. He doesn't care what someone looks like on the outside. He just wants everyone to be happy and to get along. He wants everyone to be his friend. Old, young, black, white, hispanic, asian, whatever, he wants to be your friend. He wants to tell you what he knows and find out what you know. That's a beautiful thing to see.

When I was younger I never really wanted to be a mom. SHOCK! Of coures I played with dolls and pretended to be a mommy, but having my own child was something I never wanted. Even as a teenager I never felt the urge that many of my friends did. I don't know why. Kids love me, for some insane reason, but I just never wanted one of my own. As I got older, I knew I would have at least one (M wanted lots of kids-he has since changed his mind), but never got the baby bug. Finding out I was pregnant was a shock to say the least. Once the shock wore off, I was excited and nervous. The thought of being responsible for this tiny being who spent several hours a day using my kidneys as a punching bag was almost overwhelming. What if I screwed him up for life? What if I just wasn't a good mom? What if he hated me? What if I didn't love him like I should? The terror was often panic inducing. July 25, 2002 at 11:41pm Indy came into this world at 18 inches long and weighing in at a whoping 4 pounds 14 ounces. He was tiny and skinny and absolutely the most amazing thing I had ever seen. The moment I laid eyes on him, my aprehension went away. I knew this small little man would change who I was as a person. There's nothing his sweet little soul hasn't touched. The joy of being a mom is incredible. There are days when I am completely overwhelmed and enjoy the silence that ensues when he goes to bed. I wouldn't trade a moment though. Not for anything.

And now I'm done being sappy. I'm not going to tag anyone because I don't want anyone to feel obligated. If you'd like to participate in this dialogue, please feel free and let me know in the comments.

Come back tomorrow because I've got an exciting story for you. I'll tell you the title, just to give you a little taste: Tulip Thievery. Don't let the Germans catch you.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

When, and more importantly why did they decide to hip hop the Sesame Street theme? Anyone? Anyone?

Indy hasn’t watched SS in several years. Not since he discovered Thomas the Tank Engine and PBS Kids Sprout (I miss you channel!). When he watched it, it had the same happy theme song I heard when I was little. You know the one:

Sunny Day Sweepin' the clouds away On my way to where the air is sweet Can you tell me how to get, How to get to Sesame Street Come and play Everything's A-OK Friendly neighbors there That's where we meet

Ah, familiar, sweet, catchy. Not so anymore. It still has the same lyrics, but the tune is different. Very different. Hip hop different. I usually don’t have SS on in the mornings, but Arf needed to go potty AGAIN so I didn’t have a chance to turn it from yesterday’s World News Tonight (with Charles Gibson) before SS came on. We walked in the door just as the theme song to SS came on. I stopped and turned towards the TV in disbelief. What was I hearing? What was this weird song? WHY was I hearing it? Do toddlers not get enough hip hop? Do they really need hip hop? Honestly. Is this next?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

*The sandwich might just be the greatest food invention ever. You can make anything into a sandwich. Like right now, I'm having a Caprese sandwich: tomato slices, fresh basil, real mozzarella (not that gross Kraft stuff-REAL), and a dash of olive oil. De-lish!

*I don't understand people who don't drink water. Water is awesome. Drink more water people!

*Allergies still suck.

*Why have I not been to Italy yet? Seriously. I live an hour and a half plane ride from Rome. Have I been? No. No I have not. Boo!

*I'm tired. All this medicine makes me sleepy. If I nap though, I will stay up too late and be miserable tomorrow morning. It's a vicious cycle.

*Do you ever think it's unfair how some people are so multi-talented? Shouldn't talent be more equally spread out? If you can paint and draw, you shouldn't also be able to sing and act. I'm just sayin.

* For those who were concerned about my "purple" thought last week, let me be clear. I wasn't saying anything bad about purple, it just popped into my mind and I typed it. I like purple.

Monday, April 20, 2009

"It's not quite breakfast, it's not quite lunch, but it comes with a slice of cantaloupe at the end. You don't get completely what you get at breakfast, but you get a good meal.” -“Jacques, the bowler” The Simpsons

Do you brunch? I love brunch. Love. With rainbow hearts and unicorn kisses, I love brunch. It’s a meal that is relaxed and fun. Just saying the word evokes images of friends getting together and having a great time around a lovely meal. Plus, it’s the only time you can have a drink before 5 pm and no one thinks twice. Well, Europeans often drink wine with lunch, but you know what I mean. If I had a mimosa with breakfast, I’d probably be labeled an alcoholic. If I didn’t have one with brunch, people would ask what was wrong. How can you not love that?

We had an Easter brunch last weekend with our friends and it was just wonderful. We met up at one apartment and everybody brought something. Brunch was at 10:30 and we had salmon quiche (OMG, so good!), Belgian waffles, croissants, biscuits, brotchen (a small roll with a soft center and hard crust), jellies, cheese spreads, bacon, sausage (for the meat eaters), sweet rolls, yoghurt, cakes, tea, coffee, juices and of course some alcohol. One neighbor had planned on bringing Bloody Mary’s but ran out of time to get to the store, so we had only Mimosas. Or, as I like to call them Mmmmmmmmimosas.

Brunch is an incredibly civilized meal. Breakfast is usually a greasy affair and lunch is often a quick bite on the go. Unless of course you are a lady who lunches, and I sadly, am not. Brunch means sitting for hours around a table, laughing and talking with friends, eating at your leisure and being relaxed. Ah, brunch, how I love you. Except. Ah, there’s always something isn’t there? And here is my confession. I have to eat earlier than that. Seriously. I usually have to eat within 30 minutes of getting out of bed or I’m a complete and utter psycho grump the rest of the day. There’s just something about having food on my stomach early in the day that starts me off right. It is the most important meal of the day, you know. Even if I eat later, I’m still a grump unless I eat early on. And no, a slight nibble won’t do. I must have at least a full bowl of cereal (organic honey o’s) with fruit and a cup of tea. Even if I know I’m having brunch later on, I must eat. Even the thought of Mmmmmmmimosas doesn’t keep the psycho grump at bay. I wonder why this is. Have I just trained myself to need food early in the day? Well, if I have, it’s bloody inconvenient, I can tell you that.

So, now you know my brunch secret: I have to eat first. If you ever invite me over to brunch (and really, why haven’t you?) don’t be offended if I don’t eat a lot. It’s nothing against you or your cooking. I’ve already eaten, so there’s not much room for your delicious waffles. I will save room for mimosas though! Cheers!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Have you seen those commercials (I think for insurance? It’s been a long time since I saw a real commercial) when people see someone do a random act of kindness for a stranger and then they do something nice for a stranger? I know you have.

Now I know every single one of my readers is a kind, loving, wonderful person. I’ve read all of your blogs at one point or other (cause I love you all) and know that while some of you may be snarky (and I love you for it! Some days you just need some good snark), you are each and every one of you generous, funny, and amazing in your own special way. I also know that you are kind. You may not think so, but I know you are. I’ve been thinking about kindness lately. I am, according to my friends, generally a kind person. I try to be kind and polite to everyone. I don’t always succeed, but I do try. I realized the other day though that I could be more kind. Kind to strangers. I try, I really do, but some days I’m tired and irritable and just don’t feel like it. BUT! But, what if that grumpy guy in line behind me is having a really bad day too and once small act of kindness on my part might make it a little better? If I’m in a store with a trolley full of stuff and the person behind me has only one or two items, I almost always let them go ahead of me. This really seems to put the Germans off kilter. They look at me like I’m crazy, but always smile and thank me as they zip ahead of me. Oddly enough, it makes me kind of happy too.

Has a stranger ever done anything nice to you for no reason? Maybe they let you jump ahead in line when you had only a few items or picked up something you dropped and returned it to you. Maybe they just smiled at you when you were feeling down. Think how that made you feel. Could you pass it on?

I’m going to endeavor to try to be more kind to strangers as a general rule. I’m asking all of you to try to do the same. Think of it as a social experiment. Try it for one full day. Be as nice as possible, even if you don’t feel like it. Smile at people. Let them cut in line. Compliment someone. Hold a door open for a harried mom trying to wrangle her 3 overly tired children. Look the cashier in the eye and tell them they’re doing a good job. See how it makes them feel. See how it makes you feel. I don’t expect some bazaar timeline circle of paying it forward, but I think you’ll see a difference in others and yourself. If you do, please tell me how it went and how it felt. But please, don’t stop the snark on the blogs.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Where is Samuel L. Jackson when you need him? Snakes on a plane! Seriously, how many times do you think that famous line was said? "I'm tired of these #@#%*&^% snakes on this #@#%&^% plane!"BTW, thanks for all the well wishes on my recent post. Still miserable and had to spend 3 hours at the ER today getting breathing treatments and shots, but I'm confident I will be better soon. Cross your fingers!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Death would be preferable to the misery I’m living in. Seriously. Spring is here with a vengeance and my allergies are on the warpath. I can’t sleep, I can’t breathe, I can’t see, I can’t function. Yeah, I’m fun to live with. Of course M is gone right now. Of course. Really, if you saw me, you’d think I’d gone several rounds with Oscar de la Hoya. My eyes are swollen to mere slits, my nose is red and my skin is sallow. Maybe it’s a good thing M is gone.

I ventured out today and am paying the price. My friends decided to go have some breakfast at IKEA (squeeeeee!!!!!!!!!) and you know I couldn’t pass that up. Indy was excited because it meant he would get to go to Smaland. When we showed up, my friend commented that I wore a top that matched my eyes. I should add that my top was white, pink, red and black paisley. Nice. I made it through b’fast without sneezing and spent a while wandering the store commenting on this and that (and maybe buying a thing or two). My eyes were getting itchy, but weren’t watering (much). I knew I needed to get home though before a full blown attack hit. Indy and I made it home and within 30 minutes my eyes were pouring, my nose was running and I was sneezing so much I feared my brain would come untethered and fine its way out of my head. It got so bad I couldn’t even read my book because I couldn’t focus. Oh, the misery. The agony. BTW, there are no photos because if you saw me like this you’d run screaming and never come back to my blog. It’s that bad. If only it would rain for more than 2 and a half minutes and wash some of this horrible pollen away. Now I’m done griping and am off to lay back on the sofa with a cool cloth over my eyes. Leave me some love people. Leave me some love.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Do you have random thoughts? Yes, you do. Why not post a RTT? It's very freeing. Plus, a lot of other people will stop by your blog and give you some bloggy lovin (which you know you want).

*Why do we have eyebrows? I'm not buying the "to keep sweat out of our eyes" theory. Why? Cause it doesn't work! What are they for? Seriously. Mine are in serious need of waxing. Gah.

*Brown eggs taste better than white ones. It's a fact. I said so.

*I need to take out the recycling, but just don't feel like it. I have to go down 3 and a half flights of stairs, unlock the garbage/recycling center, throw the stuff in the right containers, then walk back up 3 and half flights of stairs. SO much work. I told M we need a garbage shoot from one of our windows to the garbage center. He didn't think it was a good idea. If he were here, I'd make him take out all the garbage. Also, I have about 6 empty wine bottle from Easter and a whole load of other glass that needs to go to the glass containers, but that's a whole block away, PLUS all the stairs.

* Purple *Indy starts violin lessons on Thursday. Could you die from the cute? I could. Anyhoo, the program falls underthe Children and Youth Services umbrella, so before he could take the lessons, he had to be registered with CYS. I have to bring in a copy of M's latest LES (military speak for paystub), Indy's shot records, and a list of his medications. They said the nurse would have to approve him before he could take lessons, which could delay him by a week or two. WHAT? He has allergies. I don't think violin lessons will be too strenuous for him. So, we run all over creation, we live on one Kaserne, the hospital is on another Kaserne about 2 miles away, and CYS is on yet another Kaserne about 9 miles away. We have to go through security checkpoints to get on all the Kasernes. We got searched twice. Once at the hospital and once at PHV (where CYS is located). In and out of the car. So annoying. Open all the doors, the trunk, the hood, the glove box, hand over your ID card, DL and registration. Wait in the red box on the sidewalk. Close all the doors, trunk, hood, go back to the box while they do an under carriage. You have no idea. Plus, all the buckling and unbuckling. Sigh. When we got to CYS, a different lady registered me (from the one I talked to on the phone) and when she asked if Indy had any medical issues, I simply said no. She said okay. We were done and off we went. Stupid CYS.

* Why is it that blogger says "aren't" is spelled wrong by underlining it in red, but buuckling passes the spell check? Learn to spell blogger! BTW, it also underlined blogger until I added it to the dictionary.

* I want smilies on blogger. Life would be so much better if I could insert an eyerolling smiley when I feel like it.

* Allergies blow! My eyes itch. My eustation tubes (that would be in the ear in case you can't remember) itch. They actually itch. I feel like I'm going insane.

* I miss Friends. The show, not the people I know IRL. Why is there no Friends made-for-tv-movie, a la every show from the 70's? I want to know what happened after they all left the apartments that IRL there's no way they could afford. Well, we know what happened to Joey. He moved to LA and got cancelled. But what about the others? I want to know!

* Also, Pushing Daisies. WHY did they cancel that? That's just a darn good show. I'm so mad. Sure, Flavor of Love and Rock of Love (or whatever that Brett Michaels show is called) are still on, but not Pushing Daisies? Are you kidding me?

* British TV is awesome. The end. Except for the new Dr. Who. That's just weird.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Thanks to everyone who entered my give-away and left all the lovely comments. I decided Indy should get to pick the winner. I have some great photos of him thinking about it, but I can't find the cord that hooks my camera to my computer. Gah. I wrote each entry down in order (twice for the followers) and gave Indy some parameters (pick a number between 1-whatever my high number was). He thought and thought and though. And thought. He finally picked a number and I looked down the list to find the corresponding number. The number he chose belonged to Amanda from Serenity Now! HURRAH! Congrats to Amanda and big smoochies to all who entered. If I could send you all a goodie box of chocolate and stuff, I would. My readers make me happy and I love you all.Amanda, shoot me an email with your address and I'll pop your box o' goodies in the mail.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Thanks to all you who have entered my 100th post give-away! You have until tomorrow so make sure you enter!

A few weeks ago my friend and I went to an Easter Egg market in Schwetzingen, which is a gorgeous little town about 15 minutes from Heidelberg. It is known as the spargel capitol. Spargel is white asparagus and so freaking delish. Just so you know, spargel is the same as regular asparagus, but they cover the plants with soil to prevent photosynthesis, hence the white. Who says I don’t teach you stuff? Look, they even have a bronze statue just across from the palace entrance celebrating the spargel market.

It was cold and dreary the day we went. I know, Germany? Cold and Dreary? You don’t say! Yes, it’s usually true. We are having an unusually warm and sunny week right now though and honestly it’s kind of freaking me out.

This is the entrance to the palace and grounds. The framed map is just on the left as you enter the arch. If you look to the very bottom of the map, you can see the palace. This helps give you an idea of the scale of the gardens. HUGE.

The market was held inside one of the curved wings of the palace.

See this guy? He hand beads all of these eggs. Hand. Beads.

He said the large eggs (ostrich, emu, rhea) can have up to 30,000 beads. By. Hand.

These blew me away. They are carved with a dremel like tool, then covered in wax in a pattern and dipped in acid. The acid eats away part of the shell. When the wax is removed, the pattern shows up. Amazing! Click the pics for a better look.

These eggs are hand painted/drawn and have lyrics to songs or poems about Heidelberg in them. The floral eggs had little messages of friendship or luck or Easter. The little linen strips were attached to a dowel and rolled up. Awesome. Look at the detail.

These are covered in hand fired porcelain flowers.

Are you drooling yet? I was. I swear I’ve never used the word “awesome” so much in my life. Not even in the 80’s.

This vendor was my absolute favorite. He was so funny. And patient. I swear I asked him a million questions in a weird mixture of German and English. He responded in the same mix.

He hand paints all these eggs. The girl with the umbrella was my favorite and I’m sad I didn’t buy her.

Can you stand it? Isn’t it all amazing?

He sketches his ideas in this little book. What I wouldn’t give to have an hour or two with this book!

This is the kind of egging I do (did you know that about me?), so I was totally in love with her booth. Plus, she was soooooo nice. Her husband doesn’t look it in the photos, but he really was, he just didn’t like having his photo taken.

I have more photos, but these were really the cream of the crop. I hope you enjoyed your little glimpse of a European tradition.